Carl Edwards Wins Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage

Friday, October 14, 2011

Carl Edwards celebrates his win in the Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage.
Harold Hinson Photography

Carl Edwards led only five laps Friday evening, but they were the money laps as he won the Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Edwards overcame an early brush with the Turn 4 wall on Lap 32 of the 200-lap event and after repairs were made, roared back through the field.

Edwards took the lead on the final restart of the night from Kyle Busch and was able to hold off a last lap charge by Busch to score his eighth win of the year. The win was his second at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Finishing third was Trevor Bayne and rounding out the top five were Elliot Sadler in fourth and Brian Scott in fifth. Sadler also won $100,000 by taking the honors in the final Nationwide Dash 4 Cash race of the year. Sadler had a spirited battle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for most of the race for the cash, until Stenhouse faded following the final caution.

Early race leader Brad Keselowski looked to have the car to beat before a cut right rear tire forced his No. 22 to the end of the lead lap. Track position only allowed Keselowski to get back up to finish in sixth.

There were 11 leaders among seven drivers, as the race was slowed by seven caution periods for 31 laps. Edwards averaged 134.195 mph in claiming the victory.